Gumball, the dark-star life
by SneakyDekuScrub
Summary: (This is a short sequel to love troubles, set before the epilogues.) When gumball meets triston he is offered a big chance that could change his life forever, after a short time bonding he get's made an offer that could change his life forever. Will gumball accept it? Please review.
1. Chapter 1 The odd letter

Chapter 1: The Odd Letter

A few months had passed since Gumball's fourteenth birthday, and he had found out about his family's dark secret behind his true father. He never acted the same or saw his mother and Richard the same, and sometimes didn't even treat them the same. Even yet, none of his friends and family knew why he acted out sometimes. Only one person knew, and that was his girlfriend whom he had been dating. It was a normal afternoon, and Gumball was sitting in the living room in his usual sweater and black jeans. The living room didn't have much to it, other than a coffee table with a carpet under it, along with one big sofa and a television. He was alone as everyone was out doing something.

His mother was out on a date with Richard, the man he had mentally resented a lot, but he tried to pretend that he liked him. Gumball was watching television until he saw the mail truck drive by. He caught a glimpse of it through the window. It was nothing out of the ordinary so far. That day in Elmore, the sun was shining brightly everything seeming at peace. Gumball walked to the mailbox. He had a raised eyebrow when he was going through the letters. One was blank and only had the words "To Gumball" written on it. There wasn't even a stamp. He was confused as he opened it up. The entire note was written in cursive writing, but there were only three sentences. The first sentence of the three read, "Can we talk?" The second one read "Time runs short for me," and the third read, "My life is slowing." That was all it read.

Gumball was confused. He didn't recognize the handwriting at all. "Hey, Gumball," he suddenly heard from nearby. He looked over his shoulder, seeing his younger brother, a goldfish with legs and arms named Darwin approaching. He had just recently come home from what he had to do today. "Oh, uh, hey dude. How'd your date with Rachel go?" Gumball responded, quickly folding the letter up and hiding it away in his pocket. "It could've been better. The power at the movie theater randomly died and we had to leave early," he answered depressingly. Gumball raised an eyebrow. The power randomly dying somewhere in the center of town like that could only happen in a really bad thunderstorm, so it certainly was an odd thing, but he didn't dwell on the thought.

"Sorry to hear, dude. Look at the bright side. Job Week is tomorrow," Gumball tried to reassure him. Job Week was something that was done once a year at their school, where they went and signed up for being a practical tag along to most students. It was basically a week off school to watch and gain early experience in the job of whoever they follow, or at least that was the excuse the principal used when they decided to start it, when really to the teachers it was a break from the students. "Oh yeah, you're going to sign up with me to see mom work at the Rainbow Factory, right?" Darwin curiously asked. "Of course," he answered. They went inside the home while the sun was setting and the street lights were turning on gradually.

"How have things been with Teri?" Darwin asked while he was sitting on the couch. Gumball was throwing the junk mail in the trash. "Great. She wants us to get real tattoos," Gumball responded referring to his girlfriend wanting to get a tattoo with him as a form of milestone in their relationship. "Like... real tattoos? Or marker ones?" the young goldfish stuttered not believing him at first, but he knew that Gumball's girlfriend liked having him draw fake tattoos on her arm for her, but he never expected Teri to get the courage to actually get a real one, and he knew the enragement that would follow from their mother.

"Real ones... we're going to get them tomorrow before we go to school," Gumball awkwardly responded with a sigh. He was more than nervous of the thought alone. He was outright terrified. "Well good luck man," Darwin wished him the best of luck before they heard a car pulling up outside, seeing Nicole and Richard coming back from their date. "Please don't tell mom," he told his younger sibling while beginning to make his way upstairs to their room. "Where's Anais?" Darwin called in curiosity. "At a sleepover!" he loudly replied back down from the stairwell, not really caring in the slightest. Gumball was completely focused on the letter, spending most of the night examining it over and over again. He was hoping to find some sort of secret message, but he had no luck.

End of Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2 Career week mess up?

Chapter 2: Career Week Mess up?

It was early in the morning. The sun barely rose up yet and Gumball was waiting outside in front of a tattoo parlor, that had ridiculous service hours and was open very early. To him, it was lucky since it meant that he could do his plans he had agreed to do with his girlfriend, but at the moment, he was lost thinking about the odd letter he had received yesterday. His eyes focused on it, and he had no idea about who sent it to him so far. Suddenly, Gumball heard a light airy voice. "Hey, Gumball," the words rung through his ears and immediately drew his attention.

Gumball looked over to his right to see his girlfriend standing there. Teri was a slightly crumpled paper bear whom he had been dating for the few months. She was a hypochondriac, meaning that she had a lot of diseases that were more than likely in her head. "Oh, hi Teri," Gumball greeted her with his happy tone that he always had when he was around her. This made him question if she was nervous about this or not, but considered that she might be terrified like he was too. "What's that you got there?" Teri couldn't help but ask after seeing the letter in his hands. He didn't care about who saw it since it seemed nonsensical, almost as if it was sent to the wrong person. Teri looked it over and that just seemed to confuse her as much as him. "How weird... maybe it was meant for another person with your name," she suggested. Her boyfriend shrugged and crumpled up the letter, throwing it behind him. "Whatever it is, it's trash now."

The day went on like it normally would, but around lunchtime, Darwin was at his locker, putting some books away and digging through his backpack. "Hey, Darwin," someone called him. Darwin closed his locker and looked back to find Gumball standing there happily. "Oh hey, dude. I haven't seen you all day. Where have you been?" Darwin asked his older brother. "I was getting that tattoo. Wanna see?" Gumball asked wanting to show him right away. Darwin nodded with a lot of doubt in his mind. "I don't believe you…" he said, seeing Gumball roll up his right sleeve, revealing a red heart right below his shoulder with words surrounding the side of it that read, "This heart belongs to Teri," the words surrounding the heart in an arch like fashion. Darwin's eyes widened from seeing the tattoo.

"You actually got it?! Dude, mom is going to flip out!" the young goldfish complained in a panicked worry, Gumball rolling down his sleeve with a smirk of fulfillment across his face. "Not as long as no one tells her. Just please don't tell, man," Gumball pleaded seeing. His younger brother could not give an immediate response, sighing and reluctantly nodding, agreeing to keep it a secret. They suddenly heard an echo from the loud speakers, indicating an announcement was about to happen. "Attention, students! Attention! Career Week signups are ready at the gymnasium. Please get there in a calm and orderly fashion. Thank you," the principal announced before cutting off the loud speakers that echoed throughout the school.

"See ya there, dude," Darwin said and immediately ran off. Every student drove by, doing the exact opposite of what the principal requested. They were running through the halls, catching Gumball in the crowd and dragging him to the gymnasium. Everyone was in a hurry to sign up for the best jobs to learn on.

Sooner or later, the crowd that had been dragging Gumball to the gymnasium stopped. He groaned, aching from just being dragged at least a good half mile across the school. "Are you okay?" he heard, feeling someone help him up. Gumball looked at another friend of his who was an anthropomorphic peanut with antlers. "Yeah. Thanks, Penny," Gumball responded. She was Penny Fitzgerald, a cheerleader whose jealous rage she had against Teri for supposedly taking Gumball from her was unknown to Gumball himself. "So who are you signing up with?" Gumball curiously asked. Penny just sighed. "My dad wanted me to see how he runs his construction company, so really I kinda got forced to sign up for it," Penny claimed not happy with it in the slightest. She wanted to follow her own career and not run the company in his place whenever his age got the best of him.

"Yeah, well it's probably better than the Rainbow Factory," Gumball said while looking around. He was trying to find his mother, but the crowd of students filling the gym made it hard to see since there were dozens of students that were taller than him. Suddenly, Gumball caught a glimpse of a pair of blue ears that resembled Nicole's. Like an employee late for work, he began shoving his way through the crowd in irritation.

Gumball made his way to the booth and saw the registration paper in front of him. He didn't hesitate to write down his signature on it. "Sorry I took so long," he apologized while relieved to have made it to sign up. When he looked up, his eyes widened to see a tall blue feline in a white business suit and a black fedora on his head. "Oh no! I-I'm sorry, I signed up at the wrong place!" Gumball panicked while the man took the sheet since he was the only one who signed up. "Oh, I see. Well, I suppose I could just sign a simple piece of paper to transfer you over to the right registration area, but I don't want to," the man claimed with a hint of taunt behind his voice.

"What? Why not? Come on, I was hoping to see mom work," Gumball claimed somewhat angry about it. The man wouldn't transfer him to the workplace he was so desperate to go to. The man however held out his paw to him in offer of a handshake. "I was hoping to run into you. I hope you got my letter yesterday, Gumball," the man started. This made Gumball raise an eyebrow. The letter that he couldn't understand, no matter how much he examined it, had already confused him so much, but he had thrown the letter away like it was none of his business. "…Who are you?" the young feline asked with his attention caught. The business man smirked, with an answer that could possibly freeze Gumball with such shock and disbelief. "Triston Amador."

End of Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3 The offer

Chapter 3: The Offer

Gumball had a look of shock and confusion on his face after hearing the man's name. "Something the matter? You act as if you saw a ghost," the man supposedly named Triston Amador asked. Gumball tried to shake it off. "Nothing... you just got a name like someone I knew, that's all," he fibbed, not wanting to really talk about anything like that at all, especially when he was in the crowd of students in the gymnasium. He tried to walk away after that. "Triston Smith, correct?" Triston asked. This just made Gumball's ears perk up. Now was where the questions he had in his head couldn't be withheld. "How do you know that?!" he asked with even more shock, but the adult feline told him to calm down. "Listen, Gumball. Meet me at the ice cream shop after school. I'll explain there," he claimed and walked away. Gumball just left from there with his head ready to explode from all the questions he had in his head.

After school, Gumball was trying to exit the school. He suddenly overheard a conversation from around the corner. He just stopped himself against the wall, giving a small peak around the corner to find Penny and Teri talking to one another. "I'm not breaking up with him. I've been with him for five months now. Why can't you just let it go?" Teri questioned the cheerleader with irritation in her voice. They used to be good friends, something which Gumball couldn't help but feel guilty about. "Because he actually likes me. You didn't even like him when you went on that first date," Penny responded. She wasn't entirely wrong. Teri was a bit reluctant to go on a date, but she had grown fond of her boyfriend as time went by.

"I don't want to talk to you about this anymore. Face it, Penny. Gumball loves me, and here's the proof," Teri responded, lifting up her shirt sleeve to show the tattoo that was similar to Gumball's, with the words arching around the heart. "This heart belongs to Gumball." Penny was frozen. Her friend had gotten a real tattoo, even though she normally drew fake ones on. The paper bear slammed her locker shut and stormed off, leaving the surprised Penny standing there.

When Gumball turned around to try and exit the school another way, he suddenly bumped into someone. He groaned, rubbing his cheek in a bit of pain until seeing his mother Nicole standing there, wearing her normal grey skirt and white shirt, with a rainbow pin representing the factory where she worked. "There you are, honey. I didn't see you in the gymnasium," Nicole said. "Oh, hey mom... I thought you left after the signup," Gumball responded confused with her still being around. "I figured since I already took the full day off I'd pick you up. Darwin and Anais already signed up, so I held you a place," she explained why she was at the school, showing him the registration sheet, but Gumball just sighed. "Sorry, mom, but I… uh… signed up for something else..." Gumball awkwardly claimed, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "Oh… and here I thought all of you wanted to come to my work. Well alright. Come on, let's get home," Nicole offered, but she hadn't thought to ask her oldest son what he had signed up for, but Gumball knew that he had to meet with Triston.

"Sorry, mom. I uh… have a date with Teri… yeah… bye," Gumball said sounding like he was in a hurry. He dashed past his mother, leaving her confused, but she didn't dwell on it. Still, she remembered how different he had been acting since his birthday a few months ago, but she thought that he was just having some teenage troubles. She made her way out of the school to get back to Darwin and Anais.

Gumball walked at a fast pace, away from school and towards another part of town. He walked roughly a good two miles to the east until he arrived to the same shop that Triston told him to meet him at. He spotted him just standing around like he had nothing to do at all. "Oh good, you came," Triston said with his content smile. "Don't make this so friendly. I need to ask you a lot of questions," Gumball responded with his narrowed eyes, still disbelieving about it, but the man standing in front of him claimed to be someone he thought was long dead.

"Alright, ask away," Triston said. "What's with the grave? And I thought your last name was Smith. Weren't you dead?" Gumball asked many questions in about five seconds before Triston put a hand on his head. "Calm down. As for that supposed death, I faked it. My dad was a Grade A news reporter, so when he retired, I asked if my death could be the reason for it. Smith was a fake name I used to become a successful freelance builder," Triston explained while the two cats walked side by side, randomly walking around town while talking.

"Then why did you fake your death?" Gumball asked wondering why someone would give up a successful life. "Well, your mother told me about her pregnancy of course, so basically it's because of you," Triston answered nonchalantly. This was something Gumball couldn't tell if it was an insult or not, until he remembered the details of one of the arguments he heard when Nicole and Richard argued. "If I had any idea your mother was engaged, I wouldn't have advanced on her, but when she told me, I knew I would be drained of my money, so I faked my death to avoid a fight with your other guardian, and spending part of my life losing money," Triston explained further, every detail that was in his head.

"So… was I a mistake...?" Gumball looked depressed about it. "A good mistake if you ask me. Boy, I came to give you a silver tongue, a bronze brain, and a golden opportunity," Triston replied, crouching down to his height and putting his hands on his shoulder. "I want to make up for those years I missed. With the last few of my years, you and me are all that's left of the Amador bloodline," Triston said not acting so happy to admit it. "Wait a minute… what do you mean by last few of your years?" Gumball couldn't help but ask. "I have cancer, you see. I need a prodigy to leave my legacy to, so I came to find you. My time left is unknown," he claimed quoting one of the lines from the letter.

"Will you come live with me? It is up to you to either live the lie as Watterson, or live to let me make up for what I missed, and carry on my legacy once I am gone," Triston explained his offer. Gumball's ears perked down. He didn't know how to answer him. His father stood up and rubbed his head. "Call me when you decide," Triston said with a smirk, giving him his phone number. He walked away from his son, leaving him standing there, dumbfounded by the whole conversation.

End of Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4 Decision

Chapter 4: Decision

After the talk with his father, Gumball was walking home with his head hung low. He was staring at the number Triston gave him to call when he made his decision. It felt depressing to him. He didn't know how to react or think of the situation, and he was wondering what to do. "Should I go with him…?" he asked himself, thinking that it might be the only opportunity to get to know his real father. He was so far lost in his thoughts that he didn't even realize that he had walked all the way home. Gumball entered his home and closed the door behind him, making his way upstairs. That was until he bumped into Richard who wasn't paying attention, and he knocked Gumball down the steps again. He bumped into each hard wooden step before slamming into the carpet floor of the living room.

"Oh my god! Gumball, are you okay?!" Richard asked, rushing down the steps to him in the process of the fall. Gumball's sleeve had rolled up slightly, and while he helped Gumball up, he saw the tattoo and was somewhat surprised. "Get off me," he said, jerking his arm away in irritation. He fixed his sleeve while narrowing his eyes at his practical stepfather. Gumball stormed off upstairs. Now he was enraged just at the thought of this.

Gumball entered his room, slamming the door shut behind him and sitting on his bed. He sighed, but he saw his younger brother. Darwin was in his fishbowl taking a nap, but when the door slammed shut, it woke him up from his slumber. He stood up and climbed out of his fishbowl, normally disliking to sleep in a bed. "Dude, what's wrong?" the young goldfish questioned him in confusion wondering why he was so mad. "Oh, no reason… Richa… I mean, dad nearly killed me by knocking me down the steps. That's all," his older sibling answered still enraged by that.

Downstairs, Richard was going into the kitchen where Nicole was currently making dinner. "Hey, Nicole. Did you allow permanent markers back in the house?" he asked making his wife raise an eyebrow. "No, not since we had to replace that couch," she answered while setting plates on the table, remembering an incident with her children when they were very young. "Oh... Gumball had some weird heart thing on his shoulder and part of his hair by it looked shaved," the obese rabbit explained what he saw, only out of concern for what he saw as his son. "I'll ask him about it later," Nicole responded, too busy cooking and not dwelling too much on it since her children got into a lot of odd situations.

Gumball was lost in his thoughts for a while, and still he was steamed. He couldn't ignore the decision. Once Darwin was out of the room, he pulled out his cellphone and dialed Triston's number. He listened to the ringing sound pound into his ear for a moment. "Hello?" "Hey, dad... I'll accept your offer," he claimed agreeing to the offer he made earlier that day.

"Excellent! I'll pick you up at midnight," Triston told him before hanging up. Gumball couldn't help but start thinking of what he could do, wondering if this was a decision he could change his mind on if he wanted to. However, he was getting sickened from all the problems Richard caused, and the fact that Triston claimed to want to make up for all that time he lost, with what may be the last few years of his life.

In the meantime, everyone was downstairs. Nicole remembered what Richard said about the strange mark on Gumball's arm. "Hey, Darwin. Do you have any idea if Gumball's drawn on himself recently?" she asked her second oldest son. Darwin looked around nervously, but he sighed, since he would be in trouble if he didn't answer. After all, he knew how tough their mother was. She could run a marathon just out of pure rage without breaking a sweat. "He got a tattoo," Darwin admitted. This immediately made her eyes wide with rage. Anais and Richard both gulped as they saw Nicole stand up from the table. "Thank you for telling me, Darwin," she said in a calm tone before walking off, heading upstairs with all of her fury. It was scary to know how fast she could go in between the two emotions.

Gumball was lying in bed, not feeling anywhere hungry. He heard the door creak open as his mother entered the room, having calmed down from her own thoughts after noticing how strange he had been acting lately. "Hey, honey..." she said. Something was calming her down as she knew that her son had a lot of problems before.

"What?" Gumball asked sitting up with a confused expression. Nicole just sat down on his bed beside him. "Is, uh... something wrong?" she questioned. Gumball sighed. "No, nothing's wrong, mom..." Gumball responded wondering why she was asking. "I'm only asking because Darwin said you got a tattoo, and Richard claims he saw it. Is that true?" Nicole just tried to approach the topic as calmly as she could. "Yeah it is. And that idiot nearly broke my neck when he knocked me down the stairs," Gumball responded still angry at his practical stepfather. "Well, okay yeah. He's not too smart, but he's your father and that doesn't change the fact you got a tattoo without permission," she said while standing up. Her rainbow pin at night always looked creepier. The rainbow colors would all be black and gray like the light literally made the pin's colors alive.

Gumball couldn't exclaim how badly he wanted to tell her about Triston, but if he did, he would just cause other problems. He let out a sigh and looked at Nicole. "What's my punishment?" he asked, but Nicole shook her head. "Trust me. It'll be a punishment enough to get it removed. It's expensive. Maybe next time you'll think before doing anything like that without talking to me," Nicole answered, exiting his bedroom after that. Gumball in the meantime wondered why she would spend their money on his one tattoo.

End of Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5 The Runaway

Chapter 5: The Runaway

It was late out at night. The sky had gone dark, it was raining heavily, and thunder was crashing and booming in the sky. Gumball was sitting in the living room with a small bag of items. The bag was mainly filled with his most valued possessions and a few photos. He sighed as he saw a car pull up into the driveway, the headlights flashing through the living room windows. Gumball knew that his father was here. He stood up, picking up his small bag of his valued possessions and walking outside, leaving a note behind on the refrigerator door.

Gumball walked outside, the heavy rain falling upon him as he saw Triston approaching him holding an umbrella over his head. He held it over them both, and Gumball just walked beside him to the car that was just a regular red van. Gumball climbed into the passenger seat, putting his bag in the back seat. Triston put the umbrella away while pulling out of the driveway. Gumball took one last longing look at his home while they drove away.

"Am I going to have to change schools?" Gumball asked, but Triston shook his head. "Don't worry about it. You're just changing environments. You're not changing your life entirely just where you live," he corrected his son, with a happy smile that never left his face whenever he was around his beloved son. "...What kind of job do you have now?" Gumball continued asking while the rain pattered against the windshield in the dark of the night.

"Nothing different, still a freelance builder, only difference is that now I run an entire company of freelancer builders," Triston answered. It was true what they say. Once you get used to something, you really stick with it. "How come mom didn't recognize you at school?" he asked. His father just laughed at that. "Probably because I've had three plastic surgeries since then. Trust me, I was a lot, and I do mean a lot, uglier than I am today," Triston claimed, though this did make Gumball realize why he wasn't the cutest of babies when he was born, remembering photos of himself when he was only a month or a few weeks old. "So… are you married?" Gumball questioned while he was next to asleep in the car. The radio wasn't working so he was feeling bored and being put to sleep by the calm, quiet drive on the empty road.

"I was going to be at one point. Then my fiancée's father dragged her away to keep us apart, mad then a few years later I got an invitation to her wedding, and she had completely forgotten about me," Triston told his son about his past heartbreak. "In fact, that's the thing that led me to the bar that night when I met your mother. Irony of fate, I suppose," he added. This still seemed to only turn his usual smile into a straight bored face, but this was at the point where Gumball couldn't stay awake anymore. He had fallen asleep from being up too late during the long drive. Triston didn't mind and just let him sleep.

The next morning, Gumball woke up. He yawned and stretched, and he was wondering how long he had been asleep. He looked around, finding himself lying in a bed. He moved the blankets aside and got up, cracking his back and spotting a wooden floor and white walls. The bed he had slept in was somehow a water bed. He saw a regular nightstand by it in the room. There was also a glass sliding door that led out onto a balcony with metal bars for safety rails. Gumball was awestruck at the high view over Elmore City. He was inside an apartment complex judging by the balconies below him. He was up on one of the higher floors. He was wondering how he got here, but he just continued back inside to explore more of the building.

Gumball walked through the halls of the apartment, seeing the wooden floor that spread throughout it, even though the hallway was a small size. He arrived to the living room, seeing a black sofa with two black chairs surrounding a glass clear table. A big television was sitting in front of it as well. He looked and saw an open doorway that lead to an open kitchen. He entered through it and viewed basic accessories with a counter in the center of the kitchen.

Gumball finally found Triston sitting there, just reading a newspaper and relaxing until he noticed his son awake. "Ah, good morning, Gumball. Did you sleep well?" he asked while reading through the newspaper. "How'd I get here?" Gumball couldn't help but ask. Triston chuckled, finding his confusion slightly funny. "I brought you here since you fell asleep in the car. Welcome to my practical home. We're on the sixteenth floor," he explained to his son what had happened in his sleep.

Triston stood up and stretched. "Right, boy. Time to take you to my workplace. That is how career week works, correct?" he asked. Gumball nodded excitedly. "You bet!" he responded. Triston smirked, putting the paper away and beginning to leave the apartment with Gumball alongside him.

Meanwhile at the Wattersons' house, Anais was the first family member to be awake. She was downstairs getting breakfast when she saw the note on the refrigerator door. Curiously, she whipped the note off the refrigerator door. "I'm not getting my tattoo removed. I'm sick of living like an insane person, and I'm tired of being a huge problem around here, so I'm running away." Anais sighed. In her beliefs, their mother had messed up big time when she confronted Gumball on the subject.

End of Chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6 Witnessing his legacy

Chapter 6: Witnessing his Legacy

Gumball was riding with Triston in his car. They were going to a nearby part of town. They drove by a lot of buildings that were under construction, like the entire neighborhood was in the middle of being built. He could see the workers just working their tools and fingers to the bone. "This is our current project we recently got to work on last month, a crazy man in an eighteen wheeler wrecked his truck through the homes and literally tore them to pieces," Triston explained what had occurred to require all of these repairs. Gumball had heard about that before, understanding what happened. Suddenly, his father was coughing violently. Once the coughing fit had subsided he just sighed.

"Are you okay dad?" Gumball asked. Triston nodded. "Yeah, don't worry about it," Triston reassured his son, even though he had already told him about his cancer and how he only had an unknown amount of years of his life left. "So what do you do?" Gumball couldn't help but ask with his ears perked up a bit in curiosity. "I own all of it. The most I do is go to meetings to decide what we do next, and luckily for you, you're going to get to sit in on one of the meetings," he said. His son was excited over this. He was already enjoying the first day of career week, but he had a worried feeling of what might happen when he got back to school, or how he could explain what person he chose to follow for his career week.

Gumball and Triston arrived to the library. It seemed like an odd place for a meeting, but Gumball didn't say anything on it. They parked the car, and the both of them climbed out of it. Triston grabbed a briefcase from the trunk and they made their way into the huge library. Inside, bookshelves were lined up like inviting games of dominos ready to be knocked over, with books ranging from small to huge. "Now then, my boy. Let the adults talk, and if I tug my ear, I want you to leave the rest of the meeting," Triston explained the rules behind him sitting in on this meeting. Gumball nodded listening to his father and understanding the rules.

They arrived to a room in the back of the library, normally used for adults-only sections, but it had been recently cleared out when a bunch of children broke in and stole some of the mature content. Gumball saw another man in a suit there, but he clearly recognized him. "Gumball, meet the co-owner of Fitzgerald Co. Limited," Triston introduced them. "I didn't expect you to be the fatherly type, Triston. The name's Nook," Nook introduced himself. Gumball had heard some school nicknames that Nook had been rumored about, mainly Nook the Crook, but he knew him as the co-owner of his ex-girlfriend's father's company.

"You see, Mr Nook here has gone around buying the company shares, and as a result of this, he owns 51% now and has majority control," Triston explained. Mr Nook felt much more like the owner now than Mr Fitzgerald himself was, but he was unaware of it. "So what does that mean?" Gumball asked. The two adults gave each other small chuckles.

"It means that I'm going to buy out the company. They were our greatest competition," Triston explained to his son. Soon, he was going to own Mr Fitzgerald's company. He laid the briefcase on the table, opening it and revealing a ton of money in it. This made Gumball's eyes widen. He knew that she had a grudge against him ever since he started dating Teri, but this was a step too further. He threw his hands up.

"W-wait, dad! You can't just buy them out! Who knows what'll happen to the workers," Gumball tried to make up an excuse for him not to buy the company. "Nothing. Simply there will be a new owner. Me," Triston reassured him that no one would be fired. "B-but my ex... her father owns it. If that happens…" Gumball continued, but his father tugged his ear. This was the signal for Gumball to leave. "You have a kind heart, but I'm sorry. It's just business," Triston told him. Distressed and disappointed, Gumball left the meeting room.

Gumball was now stuck, waiting around the library and reading a book called 'The Journey to the West' while sitting in a chair. The excitement he had all this time turned into slight depression. "Gumball?" He looked over his shoulder, seeing Rachel standing there. Her hair faded from yellow to magenta and her blue skin was noticeable by a mile away. "Oh, hey Rachel. What are you doing here?" Gumball asked while putting the book away, surprised to see his friend there. "I had to replace a book I accidently ruined. What's up with you? Darwin told me you ran away," she claimed remembering a conversation she had with her boyfriend. She had been dating his younger brother for quite a while. Gumball raised an eyebrow. "I dunno what you're talking about. I just got stressed out," he responded with a sigh.

"Gumball, it's time to go," Triston called out to him, Rachel seeing his father standing there confused her. Gumball stood up, his tail dragging on the ground behind him with his ears hung low in guilt. "Bye, Rachel. I'll see you at school," he said, walking away and exiting the library with his father. "How did the meeting go?" the young feline asked, mentally praying that the deal failed. "It went great. We now own Fitzgerald's company," Triston responded. This made his son just became more miserable. Penny's father was going to be either fired or majorly demoted. Gumball was sure of this, and he didn't like imagining it one bit.

"Well, good job, I guess," Gumball said while they were driving away from the library in Triston's van, watching him and his smirk. "The rest of the week will be just me and you relaxing. That's a perk of being the boss, I suppose. You have the most responsibilities, but at the same time, you don't. Just a part of my legacy," he exclaimed to Gumball. The day had only just begun, and it was already showing the bad side of his father.

End of Chapter 6


	7. Chapter 7 A week later and the end

Chapter 7: A Week Later

A week had passed since Gumball had begun following his father Triston around. He was feeling majorly guilty over the week. He may have been glad to get to know his father more, but he couldn't help but feel more than guilt for buying out Mr Fitzgerald's company. It was an early Monday morning as the young feline was waking up in his water bed. He looked over to a photo on the nightstand by the bed. The figures of Nicole, Richard, Anais and Darwin were all in it. Gumball let out a sad sigh. It wasn't the same being raised by his father. In fact, it was like being taken away from his home. It wasn't the best environment, so it was hard to get used to it and he doubted that he ever could.

Gumball got up from the water bed, walking into the living room and sighing. His father saw him depressed and dragging his tail behind him with his ears hung low. "Is something the matter?" Triston asked. "...dad, listen. I… uh… how can I put this?" he started rubbing the back of his head with a look of nervousness of how he will react. "I just can't live with you. I know you're sick and all, but… I don't think I can live like this… at all. I tried my best, but just getting to know you more made me a lot more happy, but more lonely," Gumball explained. "I miss my home..." he added. Triston just rubbed his son's head reassuringly, crouching down to his height. "Alright then. I'll take you back home," Triston said since the sun had barely risen. "But, I thought…" before Gumball could continue he was shushed.

"My reasons for finding you in the first place were of ill reasons. I wanted an heir to my company once I was gone. That's why I found you. I just want you to know that I don't know how much time I have left, but the offer will always be open to you if you need it. But if you don't want to take my place, I understand," Triston explained his reasoning for finding his son in the first place. "Thanks… it's just… I don't think I can handle doing things like you did," Gumball responded he barely could keep it together when his father bought Fitzgerald's company. Triston smirked and laughed a bit. "You certainly take after your mother. Kind hearted even in the presence of others," he said while they were beginning to leave the apartment.

About an hour later, they made their way across town. Along the way, Gumball was thinking to himself. "What do I tell mom?" he asked his father, seeing him smile at him. "I would suggest sticking to the runaway. No matter what, remember that I'm dead. It was nice having you around. Makes me regret a lot of decisions in my life, but I hate to have missed out on knowing you like I have this past week," Triston apologized while laughing under his breath. At last they arrived to Gumball's house before everyone was awake. "And here's your career week report card," he added showing it to his son. Gumball opened it up eagerly. The report card was basically a way for them to write down complaints and grade how it all went.

Gumball was amazed when he saw it. It was full of A's, all on how he did, how helpful he was and how much he learnt. It all seemed like an easy A+. Gumball got out of the van, giving a wave to his father and expecting this to be the last time he will ever see his true father. Triston tipped his hat to him before driving away, the sun shining on his red van like a neon light in the night.

Gumball hit the doorbell tiredly, hearing the ding dong from inside. His tired mother answered it, and when her eyes opened, she saw him. She gasped, going on her knees and hugging him. "Oh, Gumball! Thank goodness you're safe! I'm sorry for running you off like that!" she apologized. She thought that her trying to force him to get his tattoo removed had made him run away. Gumball just gulped while hugging her back. "Don't worry about it. I'm sorry for running away. Can I go get ready for school now?" Gumball asked while breaking the hug. "Yeah, and you can keep the tattoo," she told her son. He grinned, knowing now that Teri wouldn't be mad at him if it got removed.

To Gumball, this was going to be just another part of his life to keep buried. His loathe towards Richard and Nicole had faded like smoke from a fire after he saw how Triston wasn't truly the best of fathers. He had money and a nice apartment, but it wasn't so much to compare to his home and his family. In the end, the Watterson family was the most comfortable home he could ask for.

The End...


End file.
